Refrigerator



OCt 23, 1945 F. L RoBlsoN' r""'2,387,356

REFRIGERATOR Filed March 1 0, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l mi ,j

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2' Mazwm Oct. `23, 1945. F. L. RoBlsoN REFRIGERATOR Filed March 10, 1944 2 sheets-Sgen 2 i roasted oor. 23, 1945 `moya L. Robison, Fort smith, Ark. dor ationMaroh `19, `1944, serial No. 525,923

" salarios. witz- 126) l This; invention `relates A to refrigeration and more particularly to an open top cabinet` type `refrigerator `especially `adapted"forthe accomv modation ofperishable materials of considerable l y bulkandlquantity, and the primary object of the .inventionisthe provision of adevice. of th'e above Nstated `character whichjwill eiiiciently maintain l lq: the materials at a desired temperature to prevent spoiling `and will permit the materials to be conveniently` placed therein and removed therefrom.

Another object of this invention is `the pro- "vision of a refrigerator of the stated character `1employing.anirimproved .heat exchanger or cooling uhitwhich may bei conveniently arranged `inlacabinet of the specified kind and which will provide` thereina multiplicity of materialcomvpalitrnents,` the walls of which are chiled to ef- `ficiently preserve perishable materials located therein;` n. w.;

f v l A furtherobject of the'invention is the provision of a cooling unit or `heat exchanger which willsuccessfuly operate in` conjunction with the conventional mechanical refrigerating apparatus associated with the `cabinet-and `includes in its Vconstruction provision `for longitudinal and vertical owof the refrigerant agent having` a series `ofverticalrisers and horizontal flow tubes coact- `ing` informing the material `compartments within; the l cabinet. l

With these and other objects `in view as will become `moreapparent asthe description proceeds, `the invention consists in certain novel features of construction,l combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.` u

.n Forga completeA understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the'following description and `accompanying drawings, l in which Figure 1 isla top plan view illustrating a cooling a refrigerator cabinet constructedin accordanc'e with the present invention and showing one forrnof heat exchanger or cooling unit therein. Figure is a view similar to Figure showing another form of heat exchanger or cooling unit arranged in the cabinet and the latter also pro-` vided with a chilling compartment provided with removable shelves accessible by a movable door provided in one of the vertical walls of the cabinet.

`Referring in detail to the drawings; the cabinet`of this invention is indicated in entirety by the character 5 and the heat exchanger or cooling unit therefor is indicated in entirety by 10 the character 6. The cabinet is preferably of a double wall construction thoroughly insulated,

`as shown at l, and is fully open at its upper end being normally closed by a removable cover 8 so that access to the interior of the cabinet may be readily had. lThe cabinet may be slightly modified, as shown in Figure 6,` by having a removable door 9 in one of the vertical walls thereof so as to give access to th`e stepped down chamber I D of the cabinet from one side thereof. When the door 9 is employed the stepped down chamber l'has removablymounted therein a `perforated plate II to allow air circulation from the upper portion of the cabinet to the lower portion and also has a rack I2 therein provided with removable shelves I3. The rack and its removable shelves facilitates the accommodation of perishable merchandise below the perforated plate obtainable through the opening of the door 9.

By referring to Figure 6 it will be seen that the heatexchanger occupies a space in the cabinet above the perforated plate II while in Figure 5 the heat exchanger is slightly modified so that it may extend downwardly in the stepped down portion I0 of the cabinet. The stepped down portion of the cabinet only takes in a part of the lower portion of the cabinet leaving a chamber or space I4 for the accommodation of therefrigerating apparatus I5 which is of a conventional construction vincluding a compressor `I6 driven by an electric motor I'I and a receiver- `condenser unit indicated by the character I8.

One wall of the cabinet 5 may be'removable and is designated by the character I9 to give access to the chamber I4 when inspection or repairs are necessary to the refrigeratingapparatus I5.

Conduits 20 and 2| lead from the chamber I4 into theinterior of the cabinet 5 preferably close to the rear wall of the cabinet and the conduit 20 is connected to the compressor while the conduit 2| is connected to the receiver-condenser unit I8. The purpose of the conduits 20 and 2| is to permit the flow of the refrigerant agent from the refrigerating apparatus to the heat exchanger and return to the refrigerating apparatus.

The heat exchanger r cooling unit 6 is of a portable construction and easy to handle so that its arrangement within the cabinet is convenient to carry out and includes groups of tubular shaped rigid risers designated by the characters A and B and a plurality of horizontal flow tubes 2,2 connected thereto and in such a way as to form a plurality of material compartments designated by the character C. The flow tubes between the groups of vertical risers extend both transversely and longitudinally. The vertical risers A, when the unit 6 is arranged in the cabinet, are positioned adjacent the front wall of the cabinet while the group of risers B are arranged adjacent the rear wall of the cabinet and connect with a'header 23 also of a rigid tubular Astock and is connected intermediate its ends with the output pipe 20 of the refrigerating apparatus I5. Both the longitudinal and transverse ilow tubes are `of tubular shape, and may be of a lighter stock than the vertical risers and header 23.

By referring to Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, it will be seen that the ow tubes and headers coact in forming the heat exchanger or cooling unit of a frame like construction and applied to the ow tubes are vertically arranged wall plates 24 coacting therewith in forming the walls of the material compartments C. The iiow of tubes which coact with the wall plates in forming the heat exchanger or cooling unit with the material compartments C will be arranged in superposed relation in forming each wall of the material compartments and that the wall plates 24 are grouped in pairs and eachplate has formed therein concaved grooves, so that when the pairs of plates are grouped together the grooves match and form seats to tightly receive the flow tubes and are soldered or otherwise secured thereto strengthening the ilow tubes throughout their lengths.

It is prefer-able that the flow tubes as Well as the plates be constructed of copper or any other metal having high thermal conductivity. 'Ihe risers also may be constructed of a similar material. The size oi' the wall plates is such as to tightly nt against the vertical risers and may be lsoldered thereto as well as being soldered to the i'low tubes. Also it is preferable that the plates only extend above and below'the flow tubes so that they will eiiiciently cover theY flow tubes permitting a free circulation of air above and below the uppermost and lowermost flow tubes which provides for efficient air circulation throughoutthe entire areas of the material compartments C.

As shown in Figure 5, certain of the vertical risers may be of a greater length than the other vertical risers and have applied thereto an additional number of iiow tubes so that the heat exchanger or cooling unit may have a portion that will extend into the Well l0 of the ice box if desired, it being understood that when this form of heat exchanger is employed, the rack l2 and perforated plate'll are removed. Further. it will be seen that this type of heat exchanger provides several material compartments of greater depth than the other material compartments.

The pipe 2l connects to the lower end of one of the vertical risers of the group A delivering the cooling agent to the heat exchanger in such a way that the cooling agent will flow longitudinally as well as vertically in order to reach the header 23 which assures complete and even distribution of the refrigerant agent to all walls o! each material compartment which provides for more eiilcient'chilling of the contents of said compartments. If desired, a portion of the input pipe 2l may extend between said pipe walls 24 to protect that portion of the pipe 2| from damage or injury, It is preferable that the lowermost iiow tubes be arranged a selected distance above the lower ends of the vertical risers so that the walls formed thereby Vwith the wall plates will be spaced a selected distance from the supporting walls of the cabinet when the heat exchanger is arranged within said cabinet.

or cooling unit and will assure a complete flow of refrigerant agent throughout all walls of the material compartments formed within the heat exchanger or cooling unit and it is to be understood that this ydevice may be constructed to have as many material compartments as desired and of any selected dimensions mostl suitable for the particular` `purpose that the heat exchanger or cooling unit is to be employed for.-

Further, it will be seen that a device constructed in accordance with the foregoing description and the showing made by the drawings will be extremely durable and rigid, still permitting comparatively light stock to be employed in the construction of the flow tubes to increase their thermal conductivity.

WhilefI have shown and described the pre ferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination with an open top-coolin cabinet, a cooling unit Within said cabinet, means for circulating a cooling agent through the unit, the unit consisting of a plurality of vertical risers and a plurality of .longitudinally arranged flow tubes connected thereto and coacting therewith in forming the unit with a plurality ofmaterial compartments, wall plates grooved to form seats and arranged in pairs to receive the flow tubes and secured thereto and coacting therewith in .completing the walls of the material compartments of substantially solid formation and to strengthen the iow tubes permitting comparatively light stock to be employed in the construe-- tion of said tubes.

2. In combination with an open top cooling cabinet, a cooling unit within said cabinet, means for circulating a cooling agent through'the unit, l

the unit consisting of a plurality of vertical risers and a plurality of longitudinally arranged flow tubes connected thereto and coacting therewith in forming the unit'with` a plurality of material compartments, Wall plates grooved to form seats and arranged in pairs to receive the ow tubes and secured thereto and coacting therewith in completing the walls of the material comparting a. frame-like ments of substantially solid formation and to strengthen the flow tubes permitting comparatively light stock to be employed in the construction of said tubes, said risers extending above and below the flow tubes and arranged in groups, and a header connected to one groupof vertical risers and having said means connected thereto.

3. In combination with an open top cooling cabinet, a cooling unit within said cabinet, means for circulating a cooling agent through the unit, the unit consisting of a plurality of vertical risers and a plurality of longitudinally arranged flow tubes connected thereto and coacting therewith 4in forming the unit with a plurality of material compartments, wall plates grooved to form seats i and arranged in pairs to receive the flow tubes `andsecured thereto and coacting therewith in completing the walls of the material compartments of substantially solid formation and to strengthen the ilow tubes permitting comparatively light stock to be employed in the construc tion of said tubes, said risers extending above and below the flow tubes and arranged in groupsI and-a. header connected to one group of vertical risers and having said means connected thereto, certain. of said vertical risers being of greater length than the other vertical risers with an increased number of now tubes connected thereto to provide one portion oi' the cooling unit of a greater height than the other.

4. In a cooling unit, groups of vertically arranged risers, horizontal now tubes connected to said risers and arranged in transverse and longitudinal groups coasting with the risers in formconstruction and providing therein a plurality of compartments, vertically arranged pairs oi' wall plates grooved to receive the iow tubes therebetween and secured thereto and coacting therewith in forming the compart ments of substantially solid wall construction,

5. In a cooling unit, groups of vertically arranged risers, horizontal tlow tubes connected to said risers and arranged in transverse and longitudinal groups coacting with the risers in forming a frame-like construction and providing therein a plurality of compartments, pairs of wall plates grooved to receive the liow tubes therebetween and secured thereto and coacting therewith in forming the compartments of substantially solid wall construction, a header connected to one group o1' risers and including an output pipe connected to a'refrigerating apparatus, and an input pipe of the refriger'ating apparatus connected to the lower end of one of the vertical risers. l

6. In combination with an open topv cooling cabinet having one portion thereof of greater depth than the other portion, a perforated plate removably mounted in the cabinet within the portion of the greatest depth, a rack underlying said perforated plate and including removable shelves,

l a cooling unit arranged in the cabinet and supported by the latter and the including vertical risers and horizontal :dow tubes connected thereto providing a compartment-like construction, wherein each wall of each compartment includes ilow tubes, a header connected to certain of said risers and to a refrigerating apparatus, and an input pipe connected to the refrigerating apparatus and to the lower end of one of the vertical risers. v

FLOYD L. ROBISON.

perforated plate and 

